


A Bit of Your Time

by ashilrak



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-11
Updated: 2017-08-11
Packaged: 2018-12-14 04:59:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11776005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashilrak/pseuds/ashilrak
Summary: "Eliza didn’t know what made her do it, but Alexander’s phone was in her hand and the next she knew she was clicking Maria Reynolds’ name and raising it to her ear."





	A Bit of Your Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [synteis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/synteis/gifts).



Eliza didn’t know what made her do it, but Alexander’s phone was in her hand and the next she knew she was clicking Maria Reynolds’ name and raising it to her ear.

With each ring Eliza felt anxiety ball in her chest, and as much as she wished that Maria wouldn’t answer the phone, she did not hang up. Four rings, and Eliza forced herself to breath out and relax. This was an invasion of privacy, but it’d be fine because Maria wasn’t going to answer. 

“Hello?” an unfamiliar voice asked. 

Eliza took in a sharp breath, but didn’t say anything. Hearing Maria’s voice made it that much more real, more tangible. This was a bad idea. 

“Hi,” she said.

“You’re not Alexander.” There was an edge there.

Eliza stood up from where she was seated at the table and walked toward the window to stare out at the street. “No,” she said. “I’m not.”

She had no idea what to say. She didn’t have a plan for this. She ran her hand through her hair and took in another breath. This was a sort of closure, she guessed. She was trying to understand. It hurt to talk to Alexander about it, knowing the betrayal. But Maria? She didn’t know Maria, it was a distant sort of hurt. 

“Is this his wife then?” Maria asked, the edge still there.

Eliza nodded even though the motion went unseen and said, “Yes, it is. I was uh, I was wondering-”

“What were you wondering, ma’am?” Maria interrupted. “What could I possibly do for you?”

She closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. “I was wondering if I could meet up with you, talk to you. Try to understand.”

“What is there to understand, ma’am?” Maria barked out a laugh. “I fucked your husband, and he paid my own husband hush money to keep it quiet. It’s not that deep.”

Eliza bit her lip, trying to think of anything she could say that would get Maria to meet up with her. It couldn’t have been that difficult for Alexander, so persuasive with words. She shook her head to clear the thought. 

“Fine,” she said. “Fine. Maybe there isn’t anything to understand. I don’t have a reason, but for some reason I ended up calling you and you answered and I want to meet up with you. We can get lunch or something - I’ll pay. All I’m asking for is a bit of your time.”

Maria sighed. “Sure, fine. Whatever. When?”

“One on Saturday?” she suggested. “At the starbucks by here?”

“I’ll see you at one then, Mrs. Hamilton,” Maria responded. “You have my number.”

“Eliza,” she said. “Call me Eliza.”

Maria hung up. 

Eliza lowered the phone from her ear and looked at the screen. There wasn’t a photo for Maria’s contact and she had no idea what Maria looked like. She’d be meeting with Maria in a couple of days. She had all that time to figure out what she was going to say. She nodded to herself and put Alexander’s phone back on his desk. It’d be fine.

\---

Alexander didn’t ask where she was going, and Eliza didn’t tell him. Maria’s number was saved in her phone, no calls made or messages sent, just sitting there, waiting. 

It wasn’t a long walk. As she got in line, she wondered whether or not it’d be better to wait for Maria before ordering. The line was quick, the baristas falling into a familiar and well-practiced rhythm. Eliza shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat, her thumb sliding over the home button of her phone. 

A part of Eliza wanted to shoot a quick text to Maria, ask her order and have it waiting for when Maria walked through the doors. She did not listen to that part of her. However polite it might have been to do so, their meeting was not the product of a polite situation. She ordered her chai latte and moved to the side, biting her lip and looking toward the door as she waited.

Maria was a mystery. Any woman there could be the one who had been haunting her thoughts. 

“Chai for Eliza,” the barista called out. 

She jolted, focus brought back to her immediate surroundings. She grabbed her latte with a empty smile, and stepped away, eyes searching for an empty table. Eliza picked up the pace when she saw one tucked away into a corner - small, round, two empty chairs. It was perfect.

Eliza’s back was to the wall, and she looked from face to face, searching for what, she didn’t know. Her phone was on the table in front of her, and every so often she would look down at it, asking herself if enough time had passed for her to text Maria asking where she was. This wasn’t a date - if anything, it was going to be an interrogation. There was no reason to be this nervous, and yet Eliza could feel the butterflies in her stomach as well as she could the warmth of her tea going down her throat.

Someone cleared their throat, and Eliza jumped. She looked up and blinked. The woman standing in front of her was everything she had spent so long wanting to be, and rather than the jealousy she had prepared for, Eliza felt curiosity and the faintest stirring of unexpected attraction. She swallowed.

“Mrs. Hamilton,” the woman said. “I’m assuming you’re her.”

Eliza nodded.

Maria - for who else could it be - looked to the side. “I heard the barista call out your name when I walked in.”

“Why didn’t you come up to me?” Eliza asked.

Maria shrugged. “I’m not sure.” She looked to the empty seat. “May I sit?”

“Of course, of course!” Eliza replied. She pulled her phone off the table and put it back in her purse. “And uh, call me Eliza. The Mrs. Hamilton thing isn’t necessary.”

Maria raised a brow. “Right,” she said. She took a sip of her coffee, and Eliza took the short moment to try to focus in on the situation and not the curls of Maria’s hair. “So, did you figure out what made you want to meet up?”

“No,” Eliza said, shaking her head. She narrowed her eyes at the coffee in Maria’s hand as she remembered their conversation. “I thought I said I was going to pay for that.”

“Too late,” Maria said, the faintest smirk on her lips. 

Eliza frowned.

“You know.” Maria tapped her nails on the lid of her cup. “I’m sure this is probably a weird thing you felt you had to do, but if this is uncomfortable for you, I can leave.”

She shook her head. “No!” she said. “It’s just, I don’t,” she bit her lip, “I’m not sure.” She let out a breath and leaned back into her seat.

“What aren’t you sure about?” Maria asked. “I can’t promise you’ll like what I have to say, but feel free to ask me anything. I’ve already prepared myself for the worst of it.”

Eliza looked at Maria’s fingers, still resting on her cup, rather than meeting Maria’s gaze. “I know,” she started. “I know that Alexander isn’t the perfect husband. I don’t really want to know all the details - I know too much already because of what he did.”

Maria nodded. “You and the rest of the world.”

She sighed and continued, “and I know that you didn’t seem too keen on talking about it over the phone, but I would like to know your side of it. Your voice never had the chance to be heard, throughout this.”

“Oh no,” Maria said. “Don’t make it seem like you’re doing me a favor.”

Eliza swallowed. “Of course. I’m sorry.”

“I’ll tell you.” Maria sighed and looked around and said, “but here might not be the best place. I live nearby, and James - my husband - is at work, so no one will bother us.”

Eliza wanted the familiar ground, wanted to host and bring Maria into her own territory, but it didn’t take a genius to realize just why her home wasn’t the best place to go. Instead of letting the words resting on the tip of her tongue free, she nodded and said, “okay.” There was no real reason to leave, but something urged Eliza to go anyway.

Maria lead the way, sunlight reflecting in her eyes in a way that left Eliza breathless. She had spent so many years not allowing herself to look, but Maria was right there. Alexander had, why couldn’t she? Her tea was still warm in her hand, and Eliza focused on that instead. Maria was doing her a favor by meeting with her, she didn’t need to ruin it with those kinds of thoughts. 

Enough time passed that Eliza was able to gather herself when Maria pushed the door open. Maria’s apartment was small, but well taken care of. Maria looked over her shoulder and said, “it’s not much.”

“Oh no, it’s great,” Eliza said, looking around. She sat down on the couch Maria pointed to and placed her hands in her lap, unsure of where to go next.

Maria sat next to her, a couple of inches between them. “So,” she said. “You want to know my side of it? What made me approach Alexander in the first place?”

Right. Eliza nodded. Part of her wanted to say something - an explanation for Alexander’s actions, perhaps for her own - but she stayed silent.

Maria sighed and reached a hand up to scratch her cheek. “I don’t know if it makes it better or worse if I told you it could have been anyone.” Maria looked at Eliza, almond eyes wide, and continued, “James isn’t a good man. He doesn’t know it, but I’m planning on divorcing him. He’s a drunk, and he’s been moving from job to job. It’s not stable.”

Eliza nodded, and squeezed her hands tight together, somehow knowing it might not be the best idea to reach out as she wanted.

“Alexander,” Maria said, waving her hand. “He talks.”

She snorted.

“He works late, and I got paid for whatever hours I worked. I started staying as long as he did rather than clocking out at five. I was able to put the extra money to the side, save it,” Maria said. “He talked and asked questions and it was nice to have my voice heard - always simple things. I never gave real input, but it helped him to hear his ideas repeated.”

“He’s always done that,” Eliza said, smiling. She shoved down the rising bitterness. She had asked to hear this. Instead, the focused on the melodic quality of Maria’s voice.

Maria looked away. “It was nice to be listened to, even in such a meaningless way. He paid attention to me in a way no one had for years. That’s all it was. I was lonely and hadn’t realized it.”

Eliza nodded, waiting for Maria to continue.

“It wasn’t some planned thing, the sex,” Maria said. “I was handing him something - he was on a conference call. I think he must have been lost in thought, because he just leaned over and kissed me - I still think he thought I was you. He ended the call and you know the rest.”

She did. Months went by, and James had found out and blackmailed Alexander. And now, here they were, staring at each other, Eliza fighting the urge to lean forward and press her own kiss to Maria’s beautiful lips.

Maria raised a brow. “That’s what you wanted to know, yeah?” she asked. 

“Yeah,” Eliza replied, nodding. “It was.”

“Happy?”

Eliza shrugged and said, “I don’t know.”

“It happens,” Maria said. “I know you still have your tea, but do you want anything? I could probably whip something together if you’re hungry.”

She looked down at her hands, “no, I should probably go.”

“Probably,” Maria agreed. “But, I don’t think you’re going to.”

Eliza looked back up and said, “no, I’m not. I’m not that hungry though.”

Maria looked at her. “Neither am I.”

“What do you suggest we do?” Eliza asked.

Maria froze and looked at her for a moment, thoughts whirring behind her eyes. She exhaled a shaky breath. “We could always put on a shitty show and make fun of the reality stars’ scripted problems in an attempt to ignore our own,” Maria offered.

Eliza’s responding laugh shocked her, but she smiled at Maria and said, “I haven’t done that in years - I try not to let the kids watch too much of that.”

Maria leaned over and knocked their shoulders together. “Then it’s about time. My advice for you in this situation is to relax, sit back, and enjoy the show.” Maria grabbed the remote and flipped the tv on, flipping through the channels. Eliza took the moment to look at her, some tension in her shoulders. Maria needed a friend. Maybe she did too.

She relaxed into the sofa and scooted closer to Maria. “That’s good advice. Angelica would probably tell me not to listen to it and rant about how reality tv is a terrible representation of the average person.”

“It’s not supposed to be a good representation,” Maria said, laughing, relaxing. Her laughter was rich and warm and comforting and Eliza gave her own answering peal. Maria settled on a channel and said, “and hey, I may not be a good person, but I can give some damn good advice. And you, Eliza, need to relax.”

Eliza leaned into Maria’s side the slightest bit - hesitant, waiting for any pushback. When there was none she let herself relax. This was something she could get used to.

**Author's Note:**

> Please feel free to come pester me at my [tumblr](http://ashilrak.tumblr.com)! :^))
> 
> <3 <3 <3 <3 <3


End file.
